


blue embers

by sven (svensfuneral), svensfuneral



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Cute, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, F/F, F/M, Firebender Sokka (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Hurt Sokka (Avatar), I Don't Even Know, I'm Sorry, Jet (Avatar) Is An Asshole, M/M, Minor Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai is nice one time, Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar)-centric, Soul Bond, Stubborn Katara (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26258320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svensfuneral/pseuds/sven, https://archiveofourown.org/users/svensfuneral/pseuds/svensfuneral
Summary: everybody has a soulmate.zuko was extremely excited to find his from a young age but that excitement fizzles out once he wakes up on a ship with a bandage over his left eye. all that hope and excitement drifts into nothing but hatred and a burning passion to find the avatar, the mere thought of a soulmate sitting at the back of his mind.everybody has a soulmate.sokka was scared to find his soulmate. he has been since he was 7 years old when he first saw a blue flame erupt out of his palm while playing with his sister. sokka didn't want to find his soulmate at all. he knew what the fire nation was like, they took his mother away from him. they were savages and sokka refused to be like them; bending an element that could only destroy. but as he got older, the more he yearned for that satisfaction of just discovering who he was bonded to. he wanted his somebody to help control the ever burning flame within him.he just didn't expect his somebody to be the fucking fire prince.a soulmate au where once you first meet your soulmate you start to glow all avatar state style.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 177





	1. the boy with the blue flame

**Author's Note:**

> hi, I'm sven and welcome to my bullshit!  
> I'm extremely excited and kinda nervous cuz this is my first book on ao3! I hope you guys enjoy it!! I did not beta this we die like jet

"you'll never beat me!" a young katara giggles as she dodges a snowball thrown by her older brother sokka. the young girl sticks her tongue out at the pouting boy before bending the snow around her tiny legs into a huge snow ball, the sight making her brother gasp.

"Katara that isn't fair!" sokka's little boot stomped the snow covered ground before him, his lip trembling slightly.

sokka has always been jealous that katara could bend water and air at her will. he's always wanted to be able to bend the air around him to the right temperature of warm, or bend water into his mouth. But everytime he tried, he didn't gain a result. so the boy gave up and left the magic mumbo jumbo to her. it was kinda cool she could do all of that even though he couldn't manage to. 

"Say your last words!" katara yelled a wicked grin on her face. 

"katara..." sokka backed away slowly trying to look for a way out that didn't include running back into the igloo and risking the home crumbling on its self from the sheer force of the huge iceball.

"welcome to your doom!" katara grinned as she flung the huge snow ball at her older brother, watching the boy freeze on the spot with his arms outstretched as if that would stop the huge ball from hitting him.

sokka could hear his heartbeat, thumping in his mouth. the ball was hurtling towards him fast, which was surprising because katara couldn't even manage to bend water properly for a minute, before losing control and dropping the liquid out of her grip like a floppy fish.

the young boy shut his eyes and shoved an arm over his face, squeezing his eyes shut, preparing himself for the inevitable impact. 

but it never came. 

instead a sizzling sound was heard and a loud scream too, making sokka's head fling towards the sound.

and that's when he saw it. 

right in his left palm was a blue, burning sensation dancing around wickedly. 

sokka couldn't help it. he screamed too. he screamed so loud and so hard he managed to alert the whole village, parents and children running out of their home to the screeching sound only to come to a standstill once they saw it.

the villagers couldn't believe it. standing in the middle of the village, was chief hakoda's firstborn, screaming his head off with a blazing blue fire sitting in his palm. 

"what's going o- sokka!" 

the boy abruptly stopped screaming along with his sister and turned to face his father, tears streaming down his chubby red cheeks and his lip quivering uncontrollably. 

hakoda couldn't help the gasp that left his lips, the spear he was holding slipping out of his hand as he stared along with the villagers at the blue flame that was sitting his son's hand.

"i c-can't stop it daddy. h-help me s-stop it." 

hakoda could feel his heart rip in two as he stared down at his son, his own lip trembling slightly as he tried to figure out what to do. 

"d-daddy please! please!"

hakoda couldn't even open his mouth to speak in fear of scaring his young son even more. his non bender son... was a firebender. his son's soulmate was fire nation. hakoda was struggling to process this, hoping his quietness wasn't alarming. but his silence was only making sokka's heart race more and more, the panic building up rapidly as he stared at his father. 

"daddy!! d-daddy i'm scared," sokka sobbed as he fell to his knees, burying his hands in the snow to try and extinguish the blue flame only to watch the snow around him melt into small puddles. "daddy! please help me, dad."

hakoda snapped out of his dazed yet alarmed state and ran over to the small boy, scooping his son up into his arms before looking around the the circle of faces that were all just staring and watching, shocked looks on every face. finally his eyes landed on his best friend and his right hand man bato, who didn't seem surprised, but the slightly disturbed look in his eyes proved otherwise.

"bato! alert kya and kanna. and get katara inside." The chief barked out his voice hoarse and strained as he held his son in his arms.

bato quickly followed his friend's orders, quickly scooping up a weirdly quiet katara and running over to kya and hakoda's igloo. 

hakoda sent a the villagers a look that could only mean 'get the fuck away from us' before returning his attention to his crying and blubbering son who was hiccuping into his anorak, his left hand still ablaze and buried in the rapidly melting snow.

"sokka, sokka listen to my voice." hakoda gently instructed.

the young boy tried to steady his breath as he listened to his father's instructions.

"Take a deep breath in..."

sokka followed.

"And out.."

sokka blew out the air that was sitting in his lungs, his panic slowly starting to die down and his tears slowly disappearing. 

Hakoda noticed as the boy slowly began to calm down, the small body no longer shaking against his own. 

"Just stay calm, keep breathing in and out, son."

Soon sokka was calm enough and decided to pull his hand out the snow, letting out a huge sigh of relief once he saw nothing else but his small shivering hand. no blue flame.

"I'm sorry daddy.." sokka blurted out as he shoved his face into his fathers coat , wrapping his small arms around the man's neck. 

the chief sighed before pressing a small kiss to his son's crown. "You did nothing wrong, sokka. nothing wrong."


	2. the boy with the crown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ozai tries not to act like an asshole.
> 
> but he can't help it.
> 
> (Btw btw sokka in the last chapter was six and zuko in the first half of this chapter is 5 and the second half he's seven.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tahaha thanks for the support and love guys on the first chapter!  
> I'm like mad nervous abt this book and I hope you guys really enjoy it cuz you know...I'm trying! hahaha :)
> 
> also! I feel like explaining how my soulmate au works.  
> you can sense what your soulmate is feeling and  
> alter it. but it only works for situations where they  
> need it (yikes, this hard to explain with out sounding dumb!)  
> You can also hear certain thoughts and telepathically communicate if the bond is that strong.  
> haha yeah.

Zuko knew he had a soulmate.

He was aware he had a soulmate since the day he fell down a flight of stairs and almost broke his arm. the boy was too busy running away from his mother in a game of tag he didn't realize the stairs waiting for him. By the time his mother called out for him, it was too late. He was already tumbling down the steps. 

Once the boy hit the floor with no more steps to go he was sure he was about to cry. he had cuts and bruises all over his little body and his head was throbbing with pain. 

Zuko felt his bottom lip trembling, his eye sight become slightly blurry and a small whimper left his lips. But before the first tear could leave his eye, the boy felt a sudden warmth burst inside of him from out of nowhere. it felt like a huge wave of emotions was let out of him and all of a sudden he didn't feel sad any more. instead he felt like he was getting hugged from the inside and it was sucking all his sadness and pain away and replacing it with love and comfort.

By the time Ursa had made her way down the stairs zuko was already standing to his feet, a large toothy smile on his face. "C'mon mommy, let's play!"

"Zuko, you're bleeding! Are you okay?"

"Yeah! I was sad but then this warm feeling bubbled in my stummy and now I feel better!"

Ursa blinked as she processed zuko's words her lips slowly curling up into a smile. "That's amazing, zuko."

The boy hopped up and down, "i know right! it's never happened before but now I want that feeling forever!"

Ursa grinned, "Well, you might just get that feeling forever because that, my boy, is a tell tell sign that you have a soulmate."

The small boy blinked. "A soulmate?"

"Yes, a soulmate zuko. It means you have an unbreakable bond with another person. they are your other half and once you find them..you begin to glow."

"why? why do we glow?"

"even I don't know..but legend says those who glow the brightest are destined to be together forever and ever and ever!"

"really, mommy?" 

Ursa stifled a small laugh. Children were really the most cutest gullible things to exist. "Really!"

And ever since zuko has always been in tune with his spiritual self, meditating every morning with his mother as the sun rose and sending a small prayer off to agni every night; the words 'soulmate' and 'forever' always a common theme in the boy's prayer. 

Sometimes zuko would will himself in to trying to send a thought to his soulmate, hoping they would respond. He was met with silence most of the time but when he focused hard he could hear a tinkle of a voice mutter the word 'cold' or 'boomerang'. It was a little confusing but it satisfied the boy nonetheless.

And one thing zuko loved was the warm feeling that sat at the bottom of his stomach. His soulmate always seemed to be happy or content. sometimes, the warm feeling would vanish and a cold feeling would begin to replace it but before the feeling could swallow him while the pleasant warmth would return and zuko would carry on with his day with out sparing another thought about it.

But one day that warm feeling disappeared. And zuko couldn't get it back.

\---

Zuko was seated at the dinner table alongside his sister azula when it happened. He was following his father's rules, eating in complete silence while listening to his father boast about his new achievements when it happened. 

A slow dark ominous feeling began to crawl up zuko's throat making the boy shuffle uncomfortably before gulping down some water, dismissing the feeling as a temporary thing. _maybe this isn't the no. 1 salmon in the world_ zuko thought as he continued to chew his food. 

And then it hit him. A sharp phantom pain struck through zuko's body, hitting the pretty warmth that sat at the bottom of his body, making the boy drop his chopsticks in shock and clutch his chest.

"Zuko! what do you think you're up to?" Ozai snarled as he stared at the shaking boy beside him. 

Zuko couldn't breathe, the pain was _unbearable,_ nothing he's ever felt could compare to this. this pain was slithering around his body squeezing and tugging at every organ and as much as zuko tried he couldn't get rid of this feeling.

"Zuko?" Azula's voice piped up as she stared at her pale older brother, the look on his face sending shock waves of worry through her heart. 

"Zuko.. " Ozai started softly, now slightly worried for the next to the throne. "Zuko..what's wrong?"

ozai was hoping to hear that the boy wasn't too fond of the salmon because honestly, it wasn't doing it for him either. _somebody's getting fired tonight_ ozai thought as he reluctantly stood up from his chair and walked towards the shaking boy.

"Zuko, what is it?" The man said softly, his tone foreign in his children's ears. ozai had never spoke to his children in a caring or soft manner so this was a surprise to both of them.

"I-it's my s-soulmate," the small boy spluttered making ozai raise his brow in genuine surprise. 

"....What about your soulmate, son?" ozai whispered calmly , patting the boy's head to soothe him.

"They're.." Zuko clutched on his chest as he tried to choke the word for this feeling. 

and then it hit him. Zuko felt this feeling a few times when his father yelled at him for not getting his katas right or saying something 'silly' or 'absurd'. zuko felt this feeling when he woke up and he couldn't find his mother. zuko felt this feeling when uncle iroh suddenly stopped writing to him. it was **fear**.

"They're s-scared.. They're really s-scared and I can't help them, " zuko sniffed as he felt a lone tear run down his face. "I-I need to help them, father."

Ozai didn't know if was the sad small tone that made him wrap his arms around the boy but he convinced himself it was. the man scooped the boy up into his arms and began to slowly rock the boy as if he was a new born child, wrinkling his nose as he felt his cape become damp over time and his son's sniffles became weaker and weaker. 

"Azula, go get the guards outside the dining room and then head to your bedroom. " ozai muttered as he continued to hold zuko securely in his arms.

the small girl got up quickly with a 'yes father' and ran out the room, two gaurds soon making their way in. 

once the pair reached ozai the man handed over his sleeping son to one and turned his attention to the other, "get this message to yon rha: 'I want every nation searched, prince zuko's got a soulmate. Once you've found the girl, make her _vanish._ '"

"Of course, my lord i'll get right to it." The two guards quickly bowed and walked out the room leaving the firelord to sit there and relish in his brilliant plan.

Ozai grinned to himself before waltzing out of the dining room, failing to notice the tiny girl standing behind the curtain. 

\---

Zuko woke up with a empty feeling at the bottom of his stomach. the boy dismissed it and got ready, his servants tending to his every beck and call before he even got out his room. Usually they would do their job without any vigor but today they were grinning and smiling in his face, aiming to please.

And this treatment on happened to continue on during the day, guards would give him a small comforting smile, the cook gave him extra fruit and a hug, even his swordmaster piandao gave him a longer break than expected.

Zuko didn't know what was going on. But he knew one person that would know. 

Azula.

The boy ran towards the backyard after his lesson and found the girl playing about with her friends ty lee and mai. 

"Azula!"

The girl whipped her head around towards the source of sound and grimaced. Zuko slowed down into a walk as he took in her expression.even azula was acting weird which was unusual because azula was ...azula.

"Zuko, I have some thing to tell you." She said as soon as he was close enough to hear her. 

"Can you tell me why the whole palace is acting weird?"

the girl looked to her friends who were now playing about with each other and no longer playing attention to the siblings. "Er..I don't know how to break this to you zuzu..."

"Azula.."

"Its about your soulmate."

Zuko froze,his hand clutching his stomach searching for that warmth that kept him content. But the feeling never came. "...What about my soulmate?"

The words that fell out of zuko's mouth sounded strained and it was obvious that the boy was trying to keep it together, the sight painful to azula. 

"They're going to die."

Zuko felt his heart skip a beat as he stared at his little sister, his mouth wide open as he tried to process her words. "H-how do you know..that for s-sure?"

Azula swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing,

"Because I heard father yesterday. He ordered a search on all nations. He's looking for your soulmate. He wants to kill them."

Zuko could feel the blood draining out of his face and his breathing quicken. Everything was rapidly become blurry and his eyes couldn't focus on azula's face for any longer.

Then he felt it.

A small flicker of pure warmth pool at his stomach for a slight second.

Then it disappeared.

Zuko passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the way I couldn't remember if zukos mom dips when he was seven or later on in life lol. next chapter is canon!  
> (Am I using that correctly? 'canon'? Idk lemme know!)


	3. the kid with the tats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sokka meets his soulmate for the very first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we back at it like a crack addict!  
> sorry for the wait! I've just got back into school and the stress is sooo overwhelming but ahaha it is what it is. Sorry this chapter is a little weaker than the rest but...  
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter anyways!

_it was dark. it always was._

_then the shouts came. his father's grunts could be heard, his sister's screams, the overall panic of the village could be heard._

_then it all stopped._

_all that could be heard was katara's quiet sobs could be heard._

_sokka could feel his eyes opening and his feet hitting the ground at a rapid pace._

_**"** I have to get home. **"**_

_**"** I have to get home. **"**_

_**"** I have to get home. **"**_

_sokka repeated in his mind as he ran across the snow covered ground towards his home._

_**" I have to get home so I can save- "**_

_"MOM!"_

sokka jolted out of his sleep, breathless and clutching a hand to his chest and cutting that everlasting nightmare to an end. sokka didn't know why he still reacted like this to an almost reoccurring dream but he still did. a habit he has failed to cut off he assumes.

Another habit he has also failed to cut off is his scary ability to rise before the sun. He thinks it has something to do with his firebending trick and the village is convinced he is just following in the footsteps of his great, hardworking father. According to his gran gran.

Sokka thought that was bullshit. No matter how hard he tried he could never equate to his father. his father was the leader of a tribe, a smart hardworking man, a great person all round and sokka was nothing but a firebreathing scumbag. 

an outsider in his own home. 

the boy quickly shook away the thoughts and got ready for the long day ahead of him which probably consisted of teaching the troop little kids how to be 'real' warriors something that he'd never amount to and just staring out of his watch tower, his eyes sharp and alert for a huge black ship to magically appear. it never happens, not since that horrible day that sokka would love to forget...

"sokka!"

katara's cool and slightly annoying voice burst into the boy's eardrums, pulling him out of the unending rabbit hole called his mind.

"what?" sokka grumbled as he grabbed his coat and shoved it on, pulling his hair back into his classic wolftail. 

"gran gran said we need to go hunting soon so, be ready for that." katara mumbled as she leaned against the wall watching her brother struggle to find his hairband. "also....alna said she'll be pulling olak out of the young warriors training."

sokka froze once he heard that, his teeth clenching together and his heart beat suddenly pounding against his chest rapidly. The boy could feel his hands slowly get colder with every breath he took. 

"...deep breaths, sokka." katara chimed in the sound of her tinkly voice infuriating the boy even more. "Just take some deep breaths and-"

"I just need some space right now." Sokka snapped as he marched straight past her and out of the igloo, heading straight to the barren tundra right outside of the village; his hands bursting into dark blue flames once he was out of the village's eye view.

Another thing sokka couldn't control was his stupid firebending reaction to everything. if he was mad, his hands would burst into dark blue flames, if he was happy little puffs of light blue flames would flicker out of his nose and mouth and if he was sad..he'd cry..really, really hard- piping hot tears would leave his tear ducts and roll off his face and drop on to the snow covered ground, a small sizzling sound emitting once the tear hit the ground.

and right now sokka was on his knees, his hands burning a scary dark blue and his eyes producing tears that could probably burn a person if they tried to wipe it away. 

Yes, sokka has the village convinced that he was following in the steps of his great father but they weren't fools. They knew what he was, who he was bound to. Who he shared his soul with. They'll never forget no matter how hard he worked to try and be the man they wanted him to be. a non bender with a great mind like his father. bonded to another non bender.

They wanted him to be a real water tribe man. 

He wanted to be one too.

"S-sokka?" 

His gran gran's shaky voice pulled the boy out his depressing mind and back to reality, a small curse slipping out of his lips as he tried to extinguish the flames in his hands; quickly wiping at his eyes once he got his emotions in control which took longer than expected.

"Hey, hi, gran gran... h-how's it going?" Sokka weakly chuckled as he stared at woman who only had a unreadable look on her face.

The two family members stared at each other in tension filled silence before the elder turned around.

"Come on, child. Katara needs help with the canoe. "

-

Sokka couldn't believe his eyes.

Just give minutes ago he was getting splashed by his little sister now said sister was suspended in mid air with a weird kid they just found encased in a fucking block of ice. Their eyes and body a bright gold colour, the air surrounding them a misty dark gold aura, pulling their bodies closer and closer; the warmth radiating off their bodies strong enough to bring sokka to his knees.

He watched as the two stayed floating in mid air, the bright golden colour becoming too much to bare. Yet he still watched. He watched the bodies get brighter, felt the warmth get stronger. his eyes burned and his body couldn't take the amount of heat radiating off them but he couldn't. stop. watching. 

He wouldn't stop watching. 

A part of him felt wrong for even watching them, but he couldn't help it. It was scary. It was weird. but it was all so fucking beautiful at the same time. sokka couldn't help the awe filled gasp that left his lips once they dropped to the ice covered ground, the misty gold aura disappearing just as quick as it came.

"...okay, what in the world was that?"

the weird kid, tui bless his heart, just shrugged off the intimate moment with nothing but a mere shrug and grin before introducing sokka and his sister to his ten ton flying bison. completely brushing off sokka's question.

"Come on appa! I wanna go penguin sledding with katara!"

-

Sokka regretted allowing katara to go and run off with her little kid soulmate. He should've just trusted his gut and left the kid alone with his non flying sky bison, but no. He just had to listen to katara and her stupid pleas.

And sokka couldn't help but laugh once he saw where that got him; sitting alone in his watch tower, smearing face paint on himself rapidly while a humongous fire nation boat was heading towards his village. Again.

Sokka really regretted his decision.

Oh, he really regretted it.

Sokka ran out towards the outskirts of the village just in time to see the drawbridge from the huge ship fall. the boy didn't waste any time and began to run up the drawbridge with his eyes shut, warbling out a tribal scream...only to get pushed into a heap of snow. 

oh, he was definitely gonna murder katara when he gets his hands on her.

the boy wriggled around in the snow, melting his way out before running towards the fire nation scum that was currently holding on to his gran gran?

"HEY! Keep your dirty hands off my gran gran!" sokka yelled as he ran towards the man in fire nation gear, hurling his boomerang towards him. 

The boy blatantly ignored sokka an refused to turn around and only began to yell louder at the poor villagers, the sight making sokka's blood boil. He quickly hurled the boomerang at the boy as he turned around, the boy letting out an amused chuckle before making eye contact with sokka. 

...And that's when everything started to get weird.

Sokka could feel his hands tremble and the air leave his lungs as he maintained eye contact with the pale boy with the large burn over his right eye, a weird glowy purple aura radiating off the boy. Sokka broke eye contact to look down and himself and saw the colour radiating off himself too but stronger; the sight making his heart drop. Sokka thought he was imagining it but when he felt his body get lifted off the ground by some otherworldly power he could explain he knew it wasn't his imagination.

Sokka was on fire. He was pretty sure he was being burnt alive; the feeling of his blood racing ten times faster than usual leaving him hot and dizzy. The boy was trying to convince himself that this was a fluke, this strange firebreather isn't really his soul mate. A steady stream of thoughts rejecting the idea of the fire nation scum being his soulmate flooded his brain, albeit a little weak and quite doubtful but they swirled around his brain all the same.

Until he felt it hit him. An indescribable feeling burst right in the center of sokka's chest, the warm feeling traveling all over his body, completely snuffing out the strong burning feeling he felt at the start of this.

it was good.

It felt good.

it was scary.

It felt scary. 

But sokka had never felt more alive in that moment.

Sokka wanted to fight the feeling but it felt so good.

So thrilling. 

So scary.

But he was alive. he felt his blood rushing around in his body slow down and his core tighten as if cementing something to his body.

Then he fell.

-

"Oh tui, son of a bitch! " sokka cried out once he hit the snow covered ground, a hand on his back as he managed to stand to his feet, his eyes avoiding the tribe cowering behind the fire nation scum; not wanting to see everyone's reaction to him finding his soulmate.

instead sokka kept his eyes on the scum already staring at him with wide eyes, a awestruck look plastered on his scarred face. sokka could feel his face twist up into a scowl as he looked at the boy, his fist clenching as they maintained eye contact.

Sokka was ready to ignite his fists and then he felt a weird feeling surge up within from the pit of his stomach. his insides twisted in response as the feeling continued to consume him, leaving him feeling less angry and a lot more **happier.**

Sokka gulped as he watched a small smile break out onto the boy's face as they continued to stare at each other- sokka fighting a smile of his own.

He couldn't be caught smiling at the enemy. Not even if they were his soulmate. 

Sokka's hands trembled.

Sokka really hated katara right now.

His hands began to burn a weird inferno of blues, the flames raging in different shades as he stared down his other half.

Sokka knew what he was about to do was going to hurt him just as bad as it was gonna hurt his partner. But they were the enemy first and his soulmate second.

"I'm sorry. "

Sokka whispered, his voice soft and gruff as he slowly raised his flaming fists and shut his eyes, and just pushing the flames towards his target - guilt and bitter sadness coursing through him.

Sokka braces himself for the screams, for the outrage. 

But it didn't come.

instead all that could be heard is the sound of somebody skidding across the snow covered ground and a sudden gust of wind blowing out nowhere.

Sokka forced his eyes open and saw aang standing in front of his soulmate, his mouth haning open in shock.

"You're a fire bender?"

Yep. sokka really hated katara right now.

-


End file.
